It's radio silence regarding which consortium of billios or maker of fine goods both dry and wet will assume ownership of Aston Martin. But the UK's Autocar reports on the luxury carmaker's future with or without current owner Ford. Following a successful sales year (7,000 units), Aston execs plan a momentum boost to 10,000 units by 2010. That rise will likely be a function of two new models appearing between now and decade's end: the Rapide four-door and, reportedly, a revamped Vanquish. But can the company's Gaydon factory handle the added stress?

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The issue at hand is the Gaydon plant's capacity to turn out the VH (vertical/horizontal) aluminum architecture, shared among the DB9, V8 Vantage, and soon the Rapide. What happens when Porsche's juggernaut starts turning out competing Panamera models like Blo-Pops. And how many piece of luggage or cases of champagne would have to be sold to pay for a plant upgrade (assuming LMVH is the buyer, which it vehemently denies)? So many questions, so much potential. What's the end game?